[♪♫♬]

[one_note]

[after Yi City and the second time Wei Wuxian gets Lan Wangji drunk, it takes about a day for them to reach the Garden of Annual blossoms. this curious incident takes place in the space of that day.

outside of appeasing the corpse pieces they've been collecting each night, it's not uncommon for Lan Wangji to take the time to practice on the guqin. he doesn't play entire songs, since he's not trying to interact with any spirits at the moment, but safely broken-up sections of Inquiry and Empathy (was Empathy always a musical technique? it is in this timeline, shut up) and the other songs he uses for battle hum through the walls of the rest stop they've paused at on the road.

it's partway through a passage of Empathy that there's a notable shriek of strings, and then silence; when Wei Wuxian goes to check, he'll find Lan Wangji half-collapsed over the instrument, his breathing harsh and a strange fluctuation of energy around him.

a qi deviation...? oh no.]

Comments

[weiyingdown]

[in retrospect it seems more understandable that Lan Wangji got beaten up by Lan Wangqi when he appears to be chiseled out of solid rock.

he leans back, or as far back as the wall will let him. which is less than an inch.]

...Calm down, Lan Zhan. Aren't you embarrassed that I, of all people, have to tell you to calm down?

[one_note]

[leans down and kisses him, hard enough to hurt.]

1/??

[weiyingdown]

[please hold, wei wuxian is not here at the moment]

[weiyingdown]

[keep holding]

[weiyingdown]

[KEEP HOLDING]

ok done

[weiyingdown]

[he doesn't do anything as he tries to let his brain catch up with what is happening, the shock clear in his wide eyes. his body very much needs to breathe, though, and when he starts feeling lightheaded and his lips feel far too bruised and numb, he reaches up to pat Lan Wangqi's shoulder to let him have some air.]

[one_note]

[Lan Wangqi jerks back a bit and coughs blood on him instead, because that's when Lan Wangji completes sneaking up on him from behind and just. stabs him.]

[weiyingdown]

[sorry he's not going to be super helpful with that at the moment, his brain is getting oxygen back into it again but that's not helping anything make more sense]

...Uhm.

[one_note]

[Lan Wangji pulls Bichen out and sheathes it. Lan Wangqi topples sideways to the ground with a thud.

that was weirdly anticlimactic for a final bossfight]

Ridiculous.

[weiyingdown]

[opens and closes his mouth a few times, absently rubbing at his bruised lips and trying to think of something to say]

Lan Zhan, isn't it a little cliched to hide your sexual frustrations under your bed like this?

[nailed it]

[one_note]

[Lan Wangji's expression shutters like an iron gate.]

...go back to the Jingshi, Wei Ying. I will clean up.

[weiyingdown]

Hey, don't dodge the question!

[stepping around Lan Wangqi's body to grab Lan Wangji's wrist]

Shouldn't you explain what that was just now? Or are you saying all of it was just the result of your qi deviation?

[his voice trembles at the last part, despite his obvious efforts to keep it steady]

[one_note]

[Lan Wangji is also trembling, faintly, under his hand]

Think for yourself.

[weiyingdown]

If I think the wrong thing, are you going to tell me?

[one_note]

[his eyes flick sharply to the one on the floor]

I am not the same as him.

[weiyingdown]

[a flicker of annoyance crosses his face, bottle frustration without a release. he remains still, perhaps unusually so as his eyebrows knit together and he chews on some choice words.

and then, with abrupt decisiveness, he reaches up and yanks Lan Wangji down into a kiss]

[one_note]

[he's pulled down, certainly less unyielding than the one who was just stabbed. but he doesn't -- kiss back immediately, though his faint trembling intensifies and he rests the hand not holding Bichen on Wei Wuxian's arm, not stopping him]

[weiyingdown]

[he drags it out just long enough to be awkward, needy and insistent when Lan Wangji doesn't immediately push him away. but he doesn't...really know what he's doing, and pulls back because he needs to breathe.

his eyes going straight to the ground, cheeks red as he tries to come up with a lame excuse if he needs to backpedal. haha, you know, friends do this kind of thing all the time! doesn't seem like it'll work given the context, but maybe...]

[one_note]

[oh






touches Wei Wuxian's cheek after another beat of silence, gently coaxing him to tilt his face up]

[weiyingdown]

[obliges; he's able to mostly pull himself together by the time he meets Lan Wangji's eyes, steeling himself and waiting for a response. if Lan Wangji is even going to say anything. it's Lan Wangji, he might not]

[one_note]

Wei Ying.

[his face is impassive, but his ears are bright red, his eyes searing]

Do you want this?

[weiyingdown]

[oh

grins a big, doofy grin as he reaches up to put his hands on Lan Wangji's cheeks]

You’re really great. I like you.

Ah, maybe I should've said that before I kissed you.

[one_note]

[lets out a soft huff of breath. his face is very hot.

leans down to kiss him again; he's actually gentle about it, but there's something as hungry there as Lan Wangqi's was.]

[weiyingdown]

[wrapping his arms around Lan Wangji's neck and kissing back properly. the smile doesn't leave his face and after less than ten seconds he tries to slip his tongue into Lan Wangji's mouth]

[one_note]

[it's pretty fortunate Wei Wuxian stepped around the body on the ground, because Lan Wangji is disregarding it entirely to wrap his arms around him and press him up against the wall again, all inexorable rather than violent; deepening the kiss with intense enthusiasm.]